Sunset from my beach house

Originally uploaded by Jon - Cafesociety.org.

Well well,,, i thought this might happen,, it’s come to the end of the project and a few extra things have turned up. A Miss Seychelles advert / promo job, a campaign for the SSPCA, kind of same as our RSPCA and the subtitling into Creole of the heroin awareness film.

All this coupled with the amazing sunsets every evening from my beach house* [see above] has persuaded me to stay an extra week.

So to all my friends and colleagues back home, i’m coming back soon… promise !!

This film has been produced by year 4 students at The International School - Seychelles during Cafesociety.org photography and film making workshops.

Our main reason for coming to Seychelles this time was to work with a group of 6th formers at the International School to produce an awareness raising film to the dangers of heroin.

Over the past 2/3 years heroin has really taken a hold here on the islands and is affecting the lives of many young people. The major concern is the additives the drug dealers are mixing with the heroin which can prove deadly in some cases.

The film will be screened on national TV and also distributed to all secondary schools here in Seychelles.

A timelapse sunset filmed from the Coral Strand Hotel - Beau Vallon - Mahe - Seychelles.

Sunrise at Anse Royale - on the east coast of Mahe - Seychelles.

Starfish - Seychelles #2

Originally uploaded by Jon - Cafesociety.org.

On Saturday scuba diving was on the menu with Steve and Gemma. We drove an hour to the south of the island and met up with Leo at the Plantation Club. Leo had shown me the basics last year but i needed a short refresher in the pool prior to our dive at Elephant Rock.

Everything went cool until i got a nose bleed at 20m, my tanks were almost done and i’d been down an hour, so i guess it was time to surface slowly.

We came face to face with an array of reef life and not forgetting to mention white tipped reef sharks, a very large murray eel and some amazing and beautiful starfish..

Fisherman - Praslin - Seychelles

Originally uploaded by Jon - Cafesociety.org.

Greetings from the middle of the Indian Ocean….

Having rested in our beach house for a couple of weeks after a very hectic and successful project in Freetown its now time to start work at the International School here on Mahe Island – Seychelles.

This years project has been funded by the American embassy in Mauritius and we aim to produce a series of drug awareness videos for secondary schools on the island as well as a series of short infomercial films for TV to encourage re-cycling with a ‘Keep Seychelles Tidy’ approach…

The Seychelles is a small island nation located in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar and about 1000 miles east of Kenya. The nation is an archipelago of 115 tropical islands, some granite and some coral. Thirty-three islands are inhabited.

If you’d like to escape with us for a while check out the flickr gallery, growing daily… Click Here

View previous films we’ve made with young people in the Seychelles - Click Here

swimming with Jamalac & Coco

Originally uploaded by Jon - Cafesociety.org.

Sunday morning, 14th April and I’m sat on the patio of the beach house which I’ve been staying at for the last two weeks.

I’ve just returned from a swim with Coco and Jamalac, my two comrades now that Sarah has flown back to England. Coco’s son is still a little scared of the water after getting attacked last week by three very agressive male dogs from next door and dragged literaly by the scruff of the neck into deeper water.

The beach house is owned by George and Jane Camille, both very talented artists who are currently away for a few weeks in Mauritius.

George is one of the most popular artists on the islands and has his work displayed in 95% of the 5* hotels and resorts, not just in Seychelles, but also in Mauritius and the Reunion islands.

The beach house is inbetween Beau Vallon and Glacis on the main island of Mahe in the Seychelles. Its been a wondeful past two weeks, just relaxing and spending some time with my beloved partner Sarah and managing to re-coup after the hectic and chaotic pace of life in Freetown :: Sierra Leone.

Sunset from our hotel balcony #2

Originally uploaded by Jon - Cafesociety.org.

Well would you believe it… a view to die for…

This was our last night on Praslin staying at the Coco De Mer Hotel as guests of Bart the owner. I had interviewed Bart last year for the documentary we made about the possabilities of building and opening an International School on Praslin.

As a parent, Bart spoke very highly of the advantages which opening a new school on Praslin would have for local parents. I think he thought he must owe me a few favours for making such a good job of the docu, he offered us the hotel as a complimentary gesture which we greatfully accepted.

Nice one Bart..